1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle tire made of rubber or rubber-like material and having a reinforcing carcass that is anchored in the beads by being looped around bead cores that are essentially inextensible and/or resistant to compression; the bead cores have an essentially round cross-sectional shape.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German Offenlegungsschrift 30 00 428 Rach et al dated Mar. 29, 1984 describes a vehicle wheel and tire assembly where the beads of the tire are disposed on the radially inner periphery of a rim. With such a principle of construction, the sealing surfaces of the tire bead are disposed in the interior of the tire. This leads to difficulties during vulcanization of the tire. In addition, the bead cores found in the tire beads are predominantly subjected to compressive load and possibly slightly to tensile load.
To resolve the problem of vulcanization, it was proposed in German Offenlegungsschrift 32 46 624 to Frerichs et al dated June 20, 1984 vulcanize the tire with the sidewalls and side beads opened laterally outwardly. To mount the tire, it is then necessary to pivot the tire beads somewhat about their bead cores. U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,617, Seith et al dated May 14, 1985 which belongs to the assignee of the present application, describes a method by which such a tire can be mounted on a one-piece rim.
With the heretofore known vehicle wheel and tire assemblies where the tire beads are disposed on the radially inner periphery of a rim, the bead cores predominantly have the same cross-sectional shape and the same rigidity as do conventional tires where the beads are disposed on the radially outer periphery of a rim. Thus, the heretofore known bead cores are relatively heavy.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pneumatic vehicle tire of the aforementioned general type with bead cores that have a relatively high resistance to compression and bending, and that in addition are as lightweight as possible. It is also necessary to provide a pivotability of the beads about their bead cores.